The way people wager is changing rapidly, thanks to advancements in technology. Gamblers are continually being introduced to new ways of gambling, and betting companies are locked in this fierce battle of trying to stay ahead of the curve.
One latest trend is online casinos opting to use the blockchain technology to improve their platforms and offer gamblers more options. Blockchain has plenty of benefits to offer the casino industry, including transparency and fairness, thereby building trust. Also, it guarantees security, faster transactions, and convenience. Thanks to a distributed ledger, all game-related activity, including the necessary information about the player's account, can be recorded, and this eliminates chances of data manipulation, making the gameplay more reliable. Also, players' assets and related data are protected against potential hacks.
Gambling statistics show that around 26% of the world population does gamble. That's a whopping 1.6 billion people. Interestingly, about 4.2 billion people gamble at least once every year. According to a UK study, 17% of those gambling do it online. The gambling market is one of the biggest entertainment industries around the globe. By 2022, the global gambling market (online and physical) is expected to be worth over $635 billion. Currently, casinos represent 25% of all gambling revenue, and the industry is expected to be worth around $187 billion by 2021. Also, an analysis of the gambling industry shows that casinos are the most profitable, currently with 39% of all profit within the sector. It's this profitability that is driving growth within the online casino sector.
We sat down with the CEO of CasinoLand to discuss the online game industry, the growing influence of blockchain technology and what he believes is the future of the sector. CasinoLand is an online platform that is using blockchain technology to offer users speedy, stable, and secure gameplay powered by blockchain transactions.
Edward Moon: Tell us more about how you got involved with the casino industry and how many years have you been in the industry?
Professor: First of all, thank you for inviting me to this interview. I’m Big Boss, Co-founder of CasinoLand. When I was a kid, our family always played Poker games during gatherings. I was fascinated with the rules and strategies just from watching. Thus I spent more time researching about the game and became good at that. But the more I dived into the gambling industry, the more unpleasant truths I discovered. Casinos advertise their games to be provably fair but in fact the odds are always in their favors. After I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, I started to work with Online Casinos to help with back-end development until I co-founded CasinoLand project. It’s always been my dream to pour my passion and knowledge for gambling into building a transparent casino which is opposite to traditional profit-driven casinos.
Edward Moon: When did you get into blockchain, and what inspired the idea of building a casino based on the technology?
Professor: I got into blockchain in 2015. At first Blockchain was just another interesting concept I read about during breaktime. I could never imagine one day blockchain and online casinos could intertwine. Before getting into blockchain, I worked as a Security Advisor for a large Betting system. During my work, I have gotten familiar with their system and understood how the casino operates. Frankly speaking, I was shocked to learn how much money the casino was making daily. On the other hand, it was how much the gamblers lost by playing these so called “Provably fair” games. So to change the negative perspectives of the casino industry, I decided to create a casino myself.
Blockchain technology and especially DeFi (Decentralized Finance) will make Online Gambling more popular and transparent. That’s why we develop the CasinoLand platform which is more friendly, accessible to everyone, and more importantly, through DeFi, users will receive more benefits and more transparency than other Gambling platforms nowadays.
Edward Moon: What has been the biggest challenge so far, trying to develop and launch CasinoLand?
Professor: I think the challenge is how to spread the benefits of CasinoLand to everyone. Because nowadays, Blockchain in general and Defi in specific is too new with everyone.
Most people probably already know that Bitcoin became a trend in late 2017, and Bitcoin is gradually asserting its position in the financial world. Moreover, of course, Blockchain will undoubtedly be one of the most powerful technology industries. With CasinoLand, we are anticipating a shift from CeFi (Centralized Finance) to DeFi (Decentralized Finance).
About competitors? Of course, this Gambling industry has many competitors but it is not more important than what we must focus on. We strive to develop products geared towards players and share many benefits for players. Please look forward to Q4/2020, CasinoLand will have many surprises for everyone.
Edward Moon: Was the idea of using CLN token for lending on DeFi part of the original plan, or has it been influenced by the recent boom of the DeFi sector?
Professor: CLN token compared to other current DeFi tokens, in addition to participating in lending, voting proposals, holders of CLN token can also receive more profit from the platform as well as participate in gaming.
The plan to use CLN token to lend is of course in the original plan. CLN tokens are the main tokens of the platform, so we plan to encourage investors to hold CLN tokens by implementing various functionalities including Defi features, which bring many benefits.
We are working extended hours to roll out a staking product, helping CLN token investors participate in staking to receive profits as well as many valuable airdrops from the platform.
Edward Moon: Do you believe the blockchain offers CasinoLand an edge over its competitors that are not using the technology?
Professor: Yes, I believe so. Any industrial revolutions must come with a technology transformation, aiming at more users through the platform.
Edward Moon: Is the CEO a money Heist fan? And why use anonymous names instead of real names? Can this hurt the project with investors worrying about a lack of transparency, especially of the team behind this project?
Very good question. Yes, I am a big fan of the Heist series. There are 3 reasons we want to remain anonymous:
Professor:
- Casino and Betting industry is “sensitive” in terms of licenses as well as legal risks. As you can see, most of the websites with founding team information, registration licenses are very vague, sometimes it is not real. “It was all very funny”, if it was not true, we would choose the “True” way for ourselves, which is being “Anonymous”
- We chose the characters in the movie “Money Heist” because we worship the philosophy of “freedom – free from any institutional constraints”.
- In the future, we want CasinoLand to be as decentralized as Bitcoin, by that time, nobody will care about who is behind CasinoLand. And in the future, we will unveil this little by little haha
Edward Moon: The DeFi market is currently booming, and there is talk of a bubble, do you believe this is the case? And what do you see as the future of the DeFi sector?
Professor: No, I believe it is inevitable, just that Defi became a trend faster than I expected. The US-China trade war, Covid-19 virus, etc. were the catalysts that made Defi “boom” like today and will stabilize soon at the end of this year (2020).
Like Bitcoin, Defi is still “very young” in the financial industry. In order for Defi to grow, the world must first have a sympathetic view on Bitcoin, and financial institutions must realize that this is an opportunity to transform Cefi to Defi. Well, this is only the very first step for Defi to become a major sector in the financial industry.
Edward Moon: Recently we saw a study by a Japanese research firm which says the FSA wouldn't be approving digital assets involved with gambling dApps. Can such a move affect online casino platforms with a model like yours, especially if other countries that are less crypto-friendly than Japan adopt such a stance?
Professor: Yes, currently, very few countries release licenses for public gambling and Japan is one of them. That’s why we choose Anonymous.
Applying for a license is very difficult and is strictly controlled by the Authorities. It is against our principles to develop a Gambling platform for everyone, for every country.
Edward Moon: Given the many benefits the blockchain has to offer the Casino industry, is the technology the future of the sector?
Professor: The Casino industry is currently lacking in transparency and decentralization. With Blockchain and Defi, CasinoLand promises to become a trend-leading Gambling platform.
Edward Moon: For a platform like CasinoLand to gain popularity, more people need to familiarize themselves with blockchain and the use of cryptocurrency tokens. What needs to be done to bring in masses to the industry?
Professor: Yes, many Blockchain projects nowadays have good products but cannot keep growing because of a lack of general education about blockchain. At first, CasinoLand was like regular Gambling platforms, and gradually we will upgrade the platform through DaoCasinoLand and Staking Apps systems to introduce it to players. All features will come with a step-by-step guide to ensure users can familiar with the system in a short amount of time. In addition, we are actively working with payment gateway providers and partners so that players can switch between Fiat – Crypto more easily.
Edward Moon: Finally, Where do you see the online casino industry in the next ten years?
Professor: Good question, but rather than looking into ten years ahead, we rather focus on a short term vision. Since you know, no one will know the future one year from now, let alone ten years. It is just unreal. But what we are doing right now will ensure the user benefits in the long term. We plan to 100% integrate the DAO model into CasinoLand by 2025. However, users won’t have to wait that long to experience one of the Defi features, which is staking. The team commits to roll out a staking product in Q4/2020. After that we will work on the next product according to the roadmap.